This is the Story of a Girl
by beccaxbankai
Summary: The band of outlaws save a young noblewoman from an unthinkable future. What would happen if she decides to join the outlaws in the forest? And what happens if she falls for one of them? WillxOC and mentioned AllanxDjaq I DO NOT OWN BBC's ROBIN HOOD
1. Author's note

Hey everyone. I want to clear something up before the real story starts. As much as I LOVE BBC's Robin Hood (and believe me, I do) I did change the plot around here and there. Sometimes it is a little change, but other times it's a pretty big change. This was the only way I could work my OC (Elizabeth) into the story.

Also, I'm putting a disclaimer here for the entire story:

I DO NOT OWN BBC's ROBIN HOOD (as much as I wish I did) OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR STORYLINES. THEY BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFULL OWNERS. THE ONLY THING I OWN IS ELIZABETH AND ANY PARTS OF THE STORY THAT DON'T COINCIDE WITH THE ORIGINAL SHOW.

P.S _**~Any time the writing is like this, it's the narrator at the time's exact thoughts. They are usually written less formally than the rest of the story and are where I get to play around with the internal personalities and thoughts I think they just don't show the world.~**_

Let the story…BEGIN!


	2. Chapter 1 This is an Ambush

Chapter 1

The words replayed over and over trough my head. There was absolutely no way out of my current situation…well, not unless I wanted to risk the lives of all my people in Asgrove, and THAT was something I could never do. Resigning myself to my inevitable fate, I combed my hair and went to sleep in my chambers for what would be the last time. I would need a good night's sleep to have the strength for what I would be doing.

Light streamed through my bedroom window at dawn, causing me to wake. I groaned and rolled over, covering my head with a pillow, not wanting to wake up. After about thirty minutes of trying, and failing, to fall back to sleep, I sighed and rolled out of bed. No, I mean I LITERALLY rolled out of bed. I am NOT a graceful, or entirely pleasant, person in the mornings. After struggling with my disastrous bed head and putting on a simple black and blue dress, I made my way downstairs to join my father for breakfast.

"Father," I said, sitting down at the table and avoiding the gaze of the man opposite me as a plate of food was placed in front of me.

"Elizabeth," he coolly replied, but with one icy glare from me his demeanor softened, and he almost sounded pleading as he continued. "You KNOW I do not wish to do this, but I had absolutely NO choice."

"I know father, this is the only way to protect the people here in Asgrove. I have accepted my fate, have you?" With that, I left the table and went out to the carriage ready to take me to Nottingham to face my fate.

On the seemingly endless trip from Asgrove to Nottingham the soldiers my father had sent to guard the carriage from outlaws would periodically glance in through the windows and give my sympathetic looks. I finally grew tired of being a spectacle and closed the curtains, leaving me in total darkness. I laid down on the bench and, after a little while, fell asleep to the sounds of the horses and carriage on the ground and the occasional whispers of the soldiers. What felt like seconds later, I awoke to knocks on the door of the carriage.

"Lady Elizabeth, we are nearing the edge of Sherwood Forrest," came the voice of Frederick, one of my father's guards, from outside. "I thought it best to warn you and give you time to prepare for meeting the Sheriff."

"Thank you Frederick," I said, popping my head out of the window, smiling and causing the young man to blush. I popped m head back inside and quickly began to fix m slight bed head and flattened and wrinkles in my dress. just as I finished, the carriage stopped and I could hear Frederick loudly announce my arrival to who I am sure was the Sheriff and is men. The door to the carriage opened, and, taking that as my cue, I stepped out of the carriage shielding my eyes from the sun.

"Welcome to Nottingham lovely Lady Elizabeth and I hope you …thoroughly enjoy your new life here," the Sheriff of Nottingham said cheerily. One look at the man made my blood run cold and my skin crawl. He was a middle aged man with almost no hair on his head, save for a triangular tuft towards the front. His teeth were yellowed, dirty, and crooked, and his eyes beady. He looked me up and down hungrily and his smile widened, like a ferocious predator who had finally captured his prey.

I internally shuddered and suppressed a look of disgust as I responded, "Thank you Sheriff. I am sure I shall find these new accommodations most wonderful." I smiled and curtsied slightly, as sweetly as I could manage, at the vile man in front of me.

"A horse for Lady Elizabeth to enter the city on," the dark haired, brooding man next to the Sheriff ordered.

"It's quite alright, I have brought my own horse from home, thanks," I informed the man, Guy of Gisborne if I was not mistaken. With that, I mounted my horse. "Goodbye everybody and thank you for everything," I bid farewell to my father's men who had escorted me thus far…hell, some of them had helped my parents raise me, and the rest, I had grown up with. Frederick gave me one last apologetic look before they all turned around and headed back to Asgrove.

"Well Elizabeth, welcome to-"the Sheriff began before he was interrupted.

"This…" a voice cut him off.

"…is…" a second continued.

"…an ambush," yet another voice finished.


	3. Chapter 2 Some Unexpected Friendly Faces

Chapter 2

"…an ambush…"

~ _**Ambush? No, this CANNOT be an ambush…I'm too young to die…there's so much I have not experienced yet!**_~ Thoughts like this continued to swim through my head as I watched the events around me unfold. Before I knew it, a group of people came charging out of the woods towards us and the Sheriff's guards. With a clanging of metal, sword fighting erupted on all sides of me.

All of the fighting must have frightened my horse because he suddenly reared and I fell off…and then there was only blackness.

Will's POV

"…an ambush…" I finished. ~_**We REALLY need to stop doing that finishing each others' sentences thing**_.~ With that, we rushed into view of Gisborne, the Sheriff, and their guards. That's when the real fun *ahem* sword fighting began. I fought my way through about half a dozen guards, never taking my eyes off of her for a moment…Lady Elizabeth.

The next thing I saw was the Lady Elizabeth fall off her rearing horse and lay still of the ground. I raced to her, only a single thing on my mind: get Lady Elizabeth out of here safely, according to plan. In moments I had reached her side. The rest was the easy part. I put Lady Elizabeth on her horse and mounted behind her.

Before long we were entering Sherwood Forrest, followed by several of Gisborne's and the Sheriff's men, who were also on horseback. This was all part of the plan though. This is the main reason I was chosen to procure the girl's safety. I mean, come on now, I'm Will FREAKING Scarlet! I'm the best in the gang when it comes to staying hidden and losing the guards…speaking of which, they are no longer following us. I have lost them in record time; told you I was good.

A little while later, I arrived back at our make shift camp with Lady Elizabeth and her horse. Much was the first one to notice our arrival, and after he announced our presence, everybody rushed over to help. Much went to prepare a comfortable bed, Djaq went to get medical supplies for our cuts and scrapes, Robin and Allan and Robin went to check that no guards had followed us (they STILL don't trust my skills), and Little John came over to carry Lady Elizabeth to the bed Much had made. That afternoon and evening, Robin, Much, Djaq, and I sat around Lady Elizabeth's bed while the others sat by the fire. All there was left to do was wait.

For what seemed like ages, we sat waiting for Lady Elizabeth to wake up. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I just could not grasp the fact that this was the same girl me and the boys from back home would follow around like lovesick puppies when she would visit Locksley. Back then, she was an adorable and carefree girl, but that was years ago. Now, Lady Elizabeth was a beautiful young woman. Roughly two years younger than me if I remember correctly, making her about sixteen currently. _**~Maybe one day her and I could...NO! I can't think like that, she is a noblewoman, worthy of somebody much better than me…wait! What am I talking about? I have no right deciding who or what she…"~**_ My thoughts were interrupted by the softest of groans coming from Lady Elizabeth's bed. She was finally stirring…

Normal POV__

I groaned softly and my eyes fluttered open. At first, all I could make out was a bright light. _**~Oh no! I'm dead…I can't be dead!~**_ I began thinking frantically before m eyes adjusted to the light. Then, the first thing I was able to make out was…surprisingly a familiar, albeit scruffier and more matured, face. "MUCH!" I cried, launching myself at my old fried, crushing him in a hug. "It is so good to see such a friendly face my dear friend."

"Lady Elizabeth," Much laughed, returning my hug. "If you think this familiar face is good to see, then you will be delighted to know who else is here.'

"Who Much?" I asked, bouncing up and down where I sat, like an excited five-year old.

"Turn around," a quiet voice chuckled from behind me. Spinning around, y eyes widened in shock.

"Will!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around the son of Locksley's carpenter, whom I had befriended on my visits to Locksley. I had never thought I would see Will Scarlet again. my heart skipped a beat when he returned my embrace, and who could blame me? Will had grown into the most handsome man I have ever laid eyes on. On top of this, he was extremely kind and fun to be around from what I remember.

"It's good to see you too Lady Elizabeth, awake that is, but I'm not the best surprise here," Will whispered in my ear. After a questioning look from me, he elaborated. "Turn around." I quickly spun back around and squealed in delight, for standing next to Much's chair, with his arms crossed, was the one and only Robin of Locksley…Robin Hood.

"OH…MY…GOSH!" I screamed, literally leaping out of the bed into Robin's arms. This was my absolute best friend, basically a brother to my biological brothers and I. The last time I saw him, he was preparing to leave for the Holy Land and I was preparing to leave with my grandmother for her Saracen tribe. That was the last time I had seen anybody from England until I returned nearly five years later to face the marriage my father had arranged for me…with the Sheriff of Nottingham.


	4. Chapter 3 A Trip to Locksley

Chapter 3

After my reunion with my three old friends, I was brought to the fire to meet the rest of the gang. There was Little John, a brute of a man who didn't speak much but seemed to have a kind heart; Allan, a funny bloke who enjoyed messing with people and lightening the mood; and Djaq, a Saracen girl who seemed to be an expert physician. I sat up talking to the group catching up with my old friends and getting to know my new friends. The whole time we sat around the fire, I sat between Robin and Will. We finally went to bed when Much reminded everybody that there was a huge food transport taking place the next day and everybody needed to be well rested. After several hours I fell asleep, unaware that there was one other person who couldn't get to sleep either. Will lay awake a few cots over unable to fall asleep for hours as well.

After a few days of living at the outlaws camp, I was beginning to get bored of sitting all day doing nothing while the others were off stealing from the rich to give to the poor and all that other hero stuff. Robin had been very kind and my second night at the camp, he snuck me back to my estate in Asgrove and let me take a couple of my dresses back to camp. I think he did it mostly because he thought my original blue and black dress would draw attention in the woods. He subtly hinted that I should bring dresses with more earthy tones back to camp with me, so all of m garments were in shades of greens, browns, reds and burnt oranges. I returned to camp dressed in a brown and green dress.

Besides that one outing, I had not been permitted to leave camp other than to bathe in the river. Even then, Djaq was sent with me, almost like a guard of some sort. I felt as though they didn't trust me. I mean, I didn't even know where in all of bloody Sherwood's Forrest I was. Don't get me wrong, I loved being with the gang, I felt accepted into their family already. But, finally, after a week of living trapped like this, I confronted Robin.

"Ok, just give it to me straight Robin," I began but with the bemused look he gave me, my confidence began to waver. "I was just wondering…if…you…if you could tell me what you plan on doing with me."

"What do you mean by 'what I plan on doing with you'?" he asked, genuinely confused by what I had said.

"I mean, are you planning on letting me stay as part of the gang or are you all just holding me for ransom because I'm engaged to the Sheriff, albeit I am engaged to that pig against my will."

Once I had finished speaking, Robin just laughed at me. "Of course you're not being held for ransom. We've kept you close to camp so as to keep you safe from the Sheriff and his men. They've been out looking for you ever since Will took you away during that little fight outside of Nottingham. We'd be honored to have you officially join the gang…that is, after you've had some archery lessons and combat training."

"I can fight perfectly fine, thank you very much…but you know that all too well don't you Robin. Who was it that came out victorious every time we practiced sparring?" This last bit had earned a laugh from the rest of the group, who I, admittedly, had not noticed join Robin and myself.

"Think you're still better than me?" Robin challenged.

"Hell yeah," I responded rather cockily.

"Ok then, we'll see this afternoon at three o'clock. You and I will spar and we'll see how good your skills really are."

That afternoon at three o'clock Robin and I faced each other in a clearing, ready to spar. The rest of the gang sat around the clearing in trees and on fallen logs. "Don't feel bad if I beat you Elizabeth," Robin taunted. "I have had a great deal of practice since we last sparred…more than you anyway. Plus, I'm not gonna go easy on you." With that, our sparring began. We were an even match, attacking and blocking attacks perfectly. We sparred nonstop for three quarters of an hour at that same pace, the others getting bored, and a bit tired, watching us. Finally, I caught Robin off guard and flicked his sword out of his hand and away from us, brining the point of my sword to rest inches away from his throat.

"Don't feel bad that I beat you," I whispered in his ear. "My grandmother made sure I had a great deal of combat training since we last sparred." Laughing, I spun around and retrieved Robin's sword, returning it to him as the others joined us.

"Not being funny, but she just kicked your arse Robin," Allan pointed out. The rest of the group laughed and Little John and Much patted me on the back.

"Brilliant job!" Will exclaimed, wrapping me in a big hug. "Nobody has yet been able to beat Robin at sparring. They are NEVER going to let him hear the end of this HAHA!" I smiled brightly and laughed along with Will as we followed the others back to camp. The next day, Robin tested m archery skills. He would shoot an arrow at a target and I would have to hit the same spot as close to his arrow as I could. Every arrow I shot embedded itself in the targets centimeters from Robin's arrows. That night, I was officially named a member of Robin Hood's gang and was awarded the marked tags as a symbol of my part in this new family. I sat by the fire sandwiched between Will and Allan, listening to everyone chat, and I couldn't be happier.

The next morning, Robin gave us the news that we would be delivering food and money parcels to the poor in Locksley. I couldn't have been more excited. Not only was I going to be able to help the poor as one of Robin's gang, I was going to be able to see all of my friends in Locksley who I had not seen for years. Needless to say, I was antsy the entire way to Locksley. Once there, we split into small groups in order to make the deliveries more quickly and with less suspicion. Allan and Djaq were one pair, Will and I another, leaving Much, Little John and Robin to go around in a small group.

Will's POV

During Lady Elizabeth's first trip to deliver food and money to the poor, her and I were partnered together to go around Locksley. We stopped and talked to every family we delivered supplies to, and even some the others had given supplies to. The entire afternoon, Lady Elizabeth's face was lit up with such joy and brightness at seeing her old friends and catching up and laughing with them. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as she laughed with all of the people we had grown up knowing. She was just so beautiful, especially when she was full of such pure joy. ~_**Oh crap, I'm staring…plus I'm not participating in conversation and probably look way too distracted. Everyone's noticed by now. I just hope Lady Elizabeth hasn't**_.~ With that I shook my head and joined in on the conversation. Lady Elizabeth and I had the most wonderful afternoon laughing and talking with each other as well as all of the villagers. We stayed in Locksley longer than the others since it was her first time seeing everyone in a long time. She had made some silly comment mocking me so I had jokingly picked her up and thrown her over my shoulder, causing her to squeal in glee.

I was heading out of Locksley with her over my shoulder, both of us laughing until we were stopped dead by the sound of a voice, "I don't appreciate your hands on my future wife boy." It was the Sheriff and he had a handful of guards (at least a dozen) with him. "I heard m lovely future bride was brought here by the outlaws," he continued, "but I get the impression that she's not exactly here against her will…arrest them" At the command, the guards advanced, surrounding Lady Elizabeth and myself. I pulled out my two axes and she drew her duel Saracen swords (her weapons of choice), ready for the oncoming fight. The two of us fought back to back, fending off the circle of guards for as long as we could, which might I add, was an impressive amount of time. Inevitably, however, they overpowered us and I saw them shove Lady Elizabeth into the Sheriff's carriage. She kept her dignity like the noblewoman she is, even though I know how terrified she is. I tried getting to her but two of the Sheriff's men grabbed me and a third kneed me in the gut when I tried to throw them off me. The guy who had kneed me tied my hands together with a rope and tied the rope to the back of the carriage so that I had to hurry along behind or next to the carriage on the way to Nottingham.


	5. Chapter 4 Don't Say That!

Chapter 4

Normal POV

I was forcibly shoved into the sheriff's carriage when his guards had overpowered Will and me. Even though I was absolutely terrified, I kept my composure and dignity as I had been raised to do. Once I was seated in the carriage across from the Sheriff, I turned to look at the window, trying to see what fate had befallen Will. I saw him struggling to get away from some guards before he was kneed in the gut and doubled over, causing me to gasp. Will was then tied to the back of the carriage, and had to walk/run behind it to keep up. Seeing this I put a hand to my mouth in shock and horror, losing m composure for a few moments. As we made our way to Nottingham, I kept my eyes on Will out of the window, trying to comfort him here and there with a look. I seemed to only be able to give him scared, horrified, and saddened looks because Will kept muttering things like 'It's alright, don't worry about me,' and 'Everything will be alright, we'll be ok. I promise.'

Unfortunately, the Sheriff noticed the communication between Will and I, and did not seem to like it one bit. "Elizabeth," he snapped. "Stop trying to comfort the outlaw, he shall get what he deserves, execution. The hanging will take place tomorrow at noon, as will our wedding. Ah, this is my old friend the dilemma again…does noble Robin Hood stop the wedding and save the pretty damsel or does he save his outlaw buddy from death. Of course, as we all know, is this just a typical wedding…a clue? No," he concluded smugly. My heart sank when the Sheriff brought up the importance of my wedding. There was a reason I had only told a handful of the people in England the truth…I didn't want them treating me any differently. I mean, come on I'm already a noblewoman and that's enough.

Will looked through the carriage window, giving me a questioning look. "Oh la dee da de da," the Sheriff laughed, quite amused at the situation. "You haven't told your outlaw boy toy the whole truth about who you are, have you? Oh this is good. Very good," he then turned to Will and smiled. "You see, the Lady Elizabeth has a secret that only a few, highly trusted, people in England are permitted to know about. Not only is Elizabeth here a beautiful noblewoman, she is also the princess and heir to a Saracen tribe. So a marriage to her would mean more than just some money and land from her father. It means power…and a ton of it."

I sat in silence, horrified that the Sheriff knew about the fact that I was a princess and had the balls to tell Will about it. We spent the rest of the trip in silence and I couldn't even bare to look at Will. Upon arriving in Nottingham, Guy opened the carriage door and helped me down, giving Will a dirty look in the process, as if I was some kidnapped noblewoman held in the forest against my will by Will. I looked over at Will but found I couldn't look him in the eye, so instead I looked at the ground at his feet. "I am so sorry Will," I said softly taking his one hand in mine and squeezing it gently before following the Sheriff and Guy up the stairs to Nottingham Castle. I turned around in time to see three of Gisborne's goons lock shackles around Will's wrists and ankles and drag him to the dungeon.

The Sheriff gave me a tour of his castle which was far too cold, dark, and dreary for m personal taste, but you know that's just me. After the oh so enjoyable tour of Nottingham Castle which was basically just an all hail the amazingly awesome Vaisey, Sheriff of Nottingham tour. We took a break from the tour to have dinner in his great hall. It was the most uncomfortable meal I had ever sat through. He sat at one end of the seemingly endless span of table and I sat on the other. There was no conversation until, "I am thoroughly looking forward to finally beating Robin Hood at something with this execution," the Sheriff cheerily smirked.

"I'm sorry, I don't exactly understand what you're talking about," I said as politely as I could muster up.

"Well now dear sweet Elizabeth, you see up until now, Robin Hood and his gang of hero-worshipping outlaws has slithered out of every trap I have set for them. Then, they did the unthinkable; they kidnapped you right from under my nose and held you captive against your will. But not, I have one of them in my grasp. This means that while they try to stop me from becoming a prince, as they are sure to do, one of their own will die. My only regret is that you and I will be missing the festivities. I would love to see that wiry punk swing by his scrawny neck."

I couldn't take the way he was talking about Will, about my very best friend. It was breaking my heart listening to him and with every word I could picture Will swinging from that noose. As composed as I could I choked out a request, "How about we finish the castle tour? You still haven't showed me the infamous Nottingham dungeons." I gave him a smile as though the thought of the dungeons gave me joy, but really I was just hoping to see and talk to Will while we were down there. Not to mention I fully intended to sneak back down to the dungeons and spend the night talking with Will and comforting him before his execution.

"Alright my dear, we can go see the dungeons," he responded. On the way there, he told me all about his dungeons and the forms of torture they use down there. I felt physically ill listening to the Sheriff and I was actually thankful when the door was opened and we reached the dungeon. I was showed around to each of the cells, the last of which was occupied…by none other that Will. He was covered in fresh cuts with blood trickling out of them and burn marks, making it obvious that he had been tortured. Will was unconscious and I couldn't tell if he had fallen asleep or passed out from the pain, but I didn't stay to find out which it was. Turning on my heel, I ran all the way to m room the Sheriff had shown me. Slamming the door behind me, I slid down to my knees and noticed for the first time that night that I was crying, sobbing uncontrollably. I sat with my arms wrapped around my knees, in an almost fetal position and cried myself to sleep.

I awoke a few hours later, still sitting with m back against the bed chamber door. I washed my face quickly and snuck out the door. The entire way from my room to the dungeon I stayed hidden in the shadows and made it without being detected. I slipped into the dungeon, luckily the jailor wasn't there, and ran to where I knew Will was. He was awake this time and came over to the bars of his sell when he saw me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked me. "It's far too dangerous for you to be here. I mean, if you are caught…"

"Oh hush," I cut him off. "There was no way in hell I was leaving you here alone, especially not with tomorrow being…well…what it is. I thought you'd be a little happier to see me though," I finished sadly.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. Of course I'm happy to see you; I'm just worried about your safety. If you're caught tomorrow, your wedding will be turned into an execution," he explained, as if trying to make me see reason.

"Will, don't you get it? My wedding tomorrow is already an execution. Your execution. Not to mention, my life might as well be over if I have to marry the Sheriff. At least if I'm executed I don't have to live everyday like an empty shell with that monster. If those are my two options, I welcome an execution," I babbled on pessimistically.

"Hey, don't talk like that Lady Elizabeth," Will said, taking my hand in his through the bars. "You're gonna be alright. Robin and the others aren't going to let either of those things happen to you. They will protect you."

"Stop saying those things!" I snapped at him miserably. "First of all, stop calling me Lady Elizabeth! You're my best friend so please call me something a little less formal. Secondly, you know as well as I do what it means if they save me from the wedding. You…you…no, I couldn't live with myself if that happened because of me."

"Where do you work out that it was your fault I'm in this situation?" he asked.

"Well, let's see. First off, I was the one who wanted to stay later in Locksley to see people. And secondly, without having me slung over your shoulder you probably could have gotten away from the guards safely." I responded, a tear rolling down my cheek.

"Let's talk about something a little more cheerful. It was nice seeing all those old friends today in Locksley, wasn't it? Can you believe Martha and Jim actually got married? We were all shocked when we heard," Will wiped the tear from my face and tried to get my mind off depressing thoughts.

"Wasn't he the one who always pulled her hair and made fun of her when we were younger?" I asked, smiling slightly at Will.

"Haha yes, that's why we were all so surprised. They used to hate each other," he laughed. The conversation carried on like this for a while until Will asked what I could tell had been on his mind all night. "Lady Elizabeth…" he began.

"What did I tell you? Something a little less formal please!" I demanded.

"Anyway, is it true what the Sheriff said before? About you being a princess I mean, and the fact that only a handful of trusted people are allowed to know. Of course, I knew you were of Saracen decent from your mother's side, but are you really Saracen royalty?" he questioned.

This was not something I wanted to talk about, especially not tonight, but Will looked so troubled by it that I had no choice. I took a deep breath and explained. "Okay, I admit, what he said is true; my mother's mother is the queen of a Saracen tribe. Our tribe is part of an alliance of seven different tribes, but ours is the only one where woman hold the power instead of men. My grandmother would visit England often to keep the peace with this country and that is where my mother and father met and fell in love. My grandmother agreed to their wedding because it made my mother happy as well as secured her peace with England. Well, now that my mother's dead, I'm first in line as heiress to the throne. I was brought to my family's tribe after my mother's death in order to learn the culture and politics in training to inherit the crown. The Sheriff thinks a marriage to me would give him even more power, but really it wouldn't. He would just be king of a tribe where all diplomatic and political decisions are made by the women."

He looked at me astounded, "Why did you never tell me, or any of us for that matter, about this?"

"Because," I answered delicately, not wanting to hurt his feelings, "my father feared for my safety. I mean, if people knew a Saracen princess was living in England, they might try to kidnap me for ransom…well…that was my father's reasoning anyway. Plus, it was bad enough that people treated me differently because I'm a noblewoman. If they knew I was royalty I would never be able to have real friends and nobody would treat me normally. The only people who knew were Sir Edward and Marian since he's my uncle, and Robin's father who was a boyhood friend of my father's. So…in reality, Robin did know. I think that's why he was so keen on making sure I didn't reach Nottingham. He knows what happens when I get married."

"And what would happen?" he asked, looking slightly nervous now.

"Well they would be next in line for my throne. I don't think Robin would put it past the Sheriff to kill me the same day he married me in order to gain power," I explained morbidly. Will didn't say anything, but only gave me horrified look. The two of us talked about this and that for the rest of the night. We mostly talked about the good times we had before I was sent away to my grandmother's tribe as well as the amazing few days we had had with the gang in the forest. Neither of us had realized it until this night, but we had become best friends. Then, realization hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to tell Will, tonight. "Will, I..."

I was cut off by the sound of approaching voices. We had stayed up talking all night and didn't even realize the sun had risen. Of course, we couldn't see much light in the dungeons anyway, but still…

"You need to leave now Lady Elizabeth! You'll be safe, just trust Robin and the others." Will hissed at me. "And, goodbye."

"Don't say that," I pleaded before giving him one last hug and kiss on the cheek.


	6. Chapter 5 Damn Allan!

Chapter 5

I snuck back out of the dungeons ad to my room, undetected but silently crying the entire way. I slipped back into bed just as one of the servant girls knocked on my door. Four servants entered my room, one holding a dress, another my breakfast, and the other two had wooden boxes. They were, of course the servants sent to help me prepare for my wedding later that afternoon. I washed myself in a bath one of the girls drew up for me then sat in my slip while two of the girls worked on my hair. Once my hair was done, the girls helped me put the dress on and fastened the necklace around m neck. I finally looked at myself in the lone mirror in m room. I have to admit, I've never thought myself to be an extraordinary looker, but I looked stunning for my wedding. I give most of the credit for that to the dress and necklace the Sheriff had had bought for me. (. and . )

I made my way to the carriage that was to take me to Asgrove. I assumed the setting of the wedding was chosen in order to make it impossible for Robin to save both myself and Will. The carriage ride to Asgrove was a total blur. All I could think about was the fact that Will was going to die that afternoon, and I wouldn't even be there with him in the end. Before I knew it, we were at m childhood home, outside the church I was baptized in. Everybody was in the church save for two guards who were standing outside making sure I didn't run away before the ceremony. I stood at the closed door to the church waiting for the doors to open, to face the end of life as I knew it with a guard on either side of me. A breeze blew my hair and veil behind me and a single tear fell down my cheek. The tear wasn't for me though, it was for Robin and the gang for having to choose who to save, but more than that, it was for Will who was in the dungeons of Nottingham waiting to die, alone at the gallows. Suddenly, the two guards fell to the ground, unconscious, having been knocked out by Little John and Much.

"We go to Nottingham," Little John said simply. Not waiting to be told twice, I jumped on a horse belonging to one of the guards who had just been knocked out. Little John and Much followed suit, finding horses belonging to other guards to mount. We raced to Nottingham, my heart pounding in my ears the entire way. What felt like an eternity later we arrived in Nottingham and Much brought me to where Robin was.

Drums began beating a steady rhythm as Will was walked to stand under the single noose on the platform. The executioner stood Will up on a short stool and tightened the noose around his neck, without a sack over his eyes. I could see the lack of fear there, almost a sense of triumph, and it scared me to death. It was almost as though he was resigned to his fate, like he had won somehow. The drums beat faster and faster until they stopped and simultaneously the stool was kicked out from under Will's feet. Robin took far too long to position and aim his bow, so I grabbed it from him and in seconds aimed and fired. The arrow cut the rope of the noose and Will fell to his feet. I raced onto the platform and untied his arms and removed the noose from around his neck while Robin, Much, Allan, Djaq, and Little John fought off the guards. We made it out of the city safely and escaped into the protection of Sherwood Forest.

Upon arriving back at camp, Will took my hand and pulled me to the side. "We need to talk," he said, seriously. "But let's go somewhere a little more private."

"Alright," I answered just as seriously, allowing him to lead me somewhere more private. Before I knew it, we were at the edge of the river and will sat down on a large boulder. He brought me to stand in front of him and looked me up and down.

"You make an absolutely stunning bride," he observed with a warm smile, spinning me around.

"Why thank you kind sir," I giggled and curtsied to him.

Will stood up and pulled me closer to him. "I'm serious, you are absolutely stunning," he said seriously, looking me right in the eye.

"Will…I…" I blushed before I was cut off by the rustling of leaves and bushes.

"I'm not being funny, but you two need to get back to camp. Djaq wants to check you two over, and we're all getting pretty hungry." Allan said emerging from a group of bushes. "Was I…ah…interrupting something?" he added, seeing the position Will and I were in.

"Nope. Nothing at all," Will and I both said, stepping apart when we realized how close to each other.

Will's POV

_**~Damn Allan! He has THE WORST timing. Damn him, damn him, DAMN HIM!~ **_Elizabeth went up ahead of us saying something about wanting to talk to Robin. Once she was out of earshot, Allan pulled me to the side.

"Not being funny mate, but you've got to tell her," he said completely serious.

"Tell her what?" I asked even though I knew what he was going to say.

"That you, well, you know. That you love her. Don't bother trying to deny it mate, it's incredibly obvious and…"

"Allan," I cut him off, "I'm not denying anything. In fact, I was about to tell her how I feel, before we were interrupted."

"Oh…my bad," he said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck. With that, I pushed past him and headed for camp. Sure Allan was my best mate, but sometimes he could be really thick. As soon as we arrived back at camp Djaq pounced at me.

"Will Scarlet, how dare you gallivant off into the forest before I give you a medical inspection," she scolded me. "You were almost hung for goodness sake, and I'm sure those aren't the only injuries you acquired while captured." ~Good old Djaq, always worrying about our health. Ever the Doctor~ I thought, following her to a log by the fire that I could sit on while she checked me over. _**~Cuz God knows none of us would worry about it otherwise. Well, Much would, but he worries about everything. I'm glad Djaq decided to stay with us. Plus, now that Elizabeth is here, neither of them have to be the only girl in the gang. It's good for them…OUCH!~**_

I hissed as Djaq took off my scarf and touched the rope burn around my neck. "Does this hurt?" she questioned sympathetically.

"Of course it does Djaq. Like you said, I was nearly hung." She continued to poke aand prod at my cuts, bruises, burns, and other injuries, bandaging what she could and cleaning out the cuts.

Normal POV

I had told Will and Allan I wanted to talk to Robin, but really I just needed to get away from Will before I said or did something stupid that would ruin our relationship. As soon as I got back to camp Djaq insisted she look me over for injuries. She quickly found that I was not injured in any way and let me get a plate of food from Much.

"Welcome back Elizabeth, it's good to have you home," he said warmly, smiling at me.

"It's good to be home," I laughed, all of a sudden extremely lighthearted. I sat on a boulder next to Robin and ate my dinner, cheerfully talking to him and Little John. All of a sudden, Djaq jumped up from her seat and ran over to somebody. Robin, John, and I looked over to see Will being scolded by Djaq. She started looking him over and every one of us watched from where we were. Much even looked up from his dinner. The truth was, although no one would say it, we were all extremely worried about Will's injuries. I had only seen some of them and that was hours ago in dim lighting. I'm sure they were worse than they had seemed then.

The first thing I saw was Will recoil slightly as Djaq removed his scarf, revealing a horrible rope burn. My eyes stung with tears and my heart ached as Djaq gingerly took off Will's shirt, revealing countless cuts, bruises, and burns across his arms, chest and back. The majority of the cuts looked shallow, but a few were deep; they would leave scars. Djaq started cleaning all of the cuts and bandaging the ones she could. I couldn't take it anymore so I jumped off the boulder and slipped into the woods. Once out of sight of the others, I ran a little ways away, tears streaming down my face, until I couldn't run anymore. I sat down with my back against a tree and cried into my knees.

After crying for awhile, I collected myself and went back to camp. Djaq saw how upset I was and suggested we go bathe in the river. She told the others where we were going and we left before anybody could see my face. I knew my eyes were red and puffy, and my cheeks tearstained. We got to the river and I sat on the bank while Djaq washed. I had bathed that morning so I didn't really need it.

We remained silent until Djaq was dressed again. Then she sat down next to me and gave me a comforting hug. "I know it has been a horrible two days for you, but you have been incredibly brave," she said.

"I've been brave? I haven't done shit, Djaq! Will's the one who was beaten, tortured, and almost executed. What did I do? I was given a good meal, a bath, and a comfortable bed to sleep in," I replied miserably.

"You really don't see how brave you've been? Will told me that you snuck to the dungeons so that he wouldn't have to be alone down there the night before he was sure he was going to die. You gave up that comfortable bed for the cold stone floor of a dungeon and risked your life so that Will wouldn't be alone, and you don't think you were brave?" she reasoned with me.

"Djaq, it was because of me he was there in the first place. I was the one who wanted to stay in Locksley to catch up with old friends. Besides, I couldn't have left him there, alone especially the night before his execution. That wasn't bravery though. I did it because I love him."

"So you finally admit it," Djaq laughed. "It is so obvious you are in love with Will, but you've refused to admit it. I'm glad you have. Although, I'm really not the one who needs to hear it. You have to tell Will."

"I know, I know and I was going to. I was literally about to in the dungeon, but the jailor was coming back and Will told me I had to leave," I explained sadly.

"Well, not that it's any of my business, but I think you need to tell him soon. We need to get back to camp. We've been gone awhile and the boys will get worried about us girls," she pointed out mockingly and we returned to camp, joking and smiling. Djaq really was my best friend, and I was so glad she was there to confide in because there was no way in hell I could talk about this stuff with Robin or the others, and obviously not Will.

THE STUPID WEBSITES ARENT WORKING GRRRRRR (they showed the dress and necklace) =(


	7. Chapter 6 He Looks Like a Freaking God!

Chapter 6

About a fortnight had passed since Will and I had come back to camp. In that time, I helped Will do the things I know caused him pain. I also insisted that I clean and bandage his healing cuts each night. One day the others went out to give supplies and food to the people in Asgrove. Robin felt that Will needed rest and I would be recognized immediately. After the last time, he felt it would be best if the two of us sat this one out.

I figured it was as good a time as any to start the nightly routine of cleaning and dressing Will's injuries, so I went to the river and filled a bowl with cold water. Will sat on one of the logs around the fire and I knelt in front of him, carefully taking off his scarf and shirt, trying to cause him as little pain as possible. I wet one of the clean strips of cloth I had been given by John's Alice when she heard of Will's condition, and gently dabbed some of the cuts on Will's chest. Will shuddered as the cold water came in contact with his skin. We sat in silence for a few minutes while I cleaned some of the shallow cuts on his chest. I then went to clean a nastily deep cut across his stomach.

"That's going to scar you know," I pointed out somberly.

"Yeah, but then I'll have a cool macho battle scar," he laughed. "…or not," he added seeing the look on my face. "Come on now, I miss the old you. The you that laughed and joked all the time, who had a clever comeback for everything. I'm gonna have to replace you as my best friend if you keep this up. Only problem is, Allan doesn't look nearly as good in a dress." At this I laughed. 'There's the old smile and laugh. Haven't seen that since we got back from Nottingham. Why is that?"

"Will, all of these," I motioned to his injuries, "are my fault."

"And how do you figure that one out?" he asked amused, cocking an eyebrow.

"Because, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have stayed in Locksley and without me over your shoulder, you would have been able to get away from the Sheriff's men," I babbled on miserably, tears falling into my lap.

"Hey now, don't cry," he pleaded, whipping the tears from my face. "None on that was0 your fault. I'm the one who threw you over my shoulder, so if you're going to blame anybody, blame me. But the way I see it, it isn't always somebody's fault. it happened, we're fine, therefore it's okay."

"You are hardly okay Will," I said, serious once again.

"Yes I am. These are nothing, especially with you taking care of me. I'm just glad that it was me and not you this happened to. I would go through that a hundred times over in order to keep it from happening to you Lady Elizabeth," Will admitted looking deeply into my eyes in a way that made my heart race.

"First off, how many times do I have to tell you not to address me so formally?" I laughed. "Secondly, why would you go through all of that pain to protect me?" I ended, the shyness in my voice shocking me.

"First off, would you prefer if I call you Beth?" he mocked me and I stuck my tongue out at him. 'Secondly, it's because…" he was cut off by thunder booming, lightning splitting the sky, and a torrential downpour. I picked up Will's shirt and scarf, along with the cloth and bandages I was using, then helped Will to his feet.

We made our way to a cave a little ways off to stay out of the storm. The others would find shelter for the night and return to camp tomorrow. I gently helped Will sit once inside the cave, putting the remaining bandages next to him. For about another hour I washed and bandaged Will's remaining injuries, using the rain water to keep the cloth wet. The two of us didn't speak while I finished tending to his wounds. I just hoped Will couldn't hear my heart beating over the rainfall. My heart was racing, but in all honesty, who could blame me? Will looked like a friggen god with his hair wet and tousled and droplets of water on his exposed skin.

_**~I must look a complete mess next to him. When I'm drenched, I just look like a drowned rat, but he, he looks like a freaking Greek god. I just want to climb on top of him and…~ **_"There, all done," I announced putting on the last of the bandages, shuddering and shaking such thoughts from my head.

"Are you cold?" he asked, slightly anxious.

"Only a little. I'll be fine," I answered. The truth, however, was that I was freezing.

Will could tell I wasn't being entirely honest. "I'll warm you up then," he said sweetly. Before dirty thoughts even had a chance to run through my head, he had put his shirt around my shoulders and wrapped me in a tight embrace, rubbing my arms and trying to warm me up. "Better?" he asked.

I nodded, looking up at him and smiling. "But YOU must be cold! You don't even have a shirt on. Why do you keep doing this stuff for me?"

He chuckled lightly at this, "Well, like I was saying earlier, before the storm so politely interrupted me, I do and say all of this because…well, because I love you Lad…Beth." I could not believe my ears. Will Scarlet, my Greek god, actually loved me? I had to be dreaming. I just stared up at Will for a few seconds. "Oh…you know what? That was totally inappropriate. I shouldn't have said…" he began babbling and blushing uncomfortably. he looked absolutely adorable.

I cut him off by pressing my lips to his. The kiss started off slow and sensual, Will's arms loosely around me and mine placed lightly on his chest. I put my arms around Will's neck, running one hand through his hair and deepened the kiss. Will was almost shy until I changed position and straddled his waist. We finally broke the kiss for air and I got off of Will, sitting next to him with my head on his shoulder and his arm around my waist. "I love you too silly," I whispered in his ear. "That's why you're the only one who's allowed to call me Beth."

"What?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"I love you and I want you, and only you, to call me Beth. I like it rather than that 'Lady Elizabeth' crap," I explained happily.

"Alright my love, whatever you want," he said, kissing me once more. We sat like that for hours, just talking about anything and everything, occasionally kissing, as we waited in that small cave for the rain to stop. Eventually, we fell asleep, hugging each other close in order to stay warm. The next morning, we woke up to find the rain had stopped, so we made our way back to camp. When we arrived, we started a fire and I cooked breakfast so the others would have something to eat when they got back. Not long after that, Robin, Much and Little John showed up.

"We had split up before the storm started," Robin explained. "So when it hit, we found whatever shelter we could. Luckily for us, we were passing Locksley and your dad and Luke let us stay with him until sunrise Will."

"We haven't seen Allan and Djaq since before the storm though," John added. "Have they come back yet?"

"And is that meat AND eggs I smell?" Much piped in.

"Glad my family was able to help Robin, but no, I'm sorry, we haven't seen Allan or Djaq yet either. And yes Much, Beth was good enough to make meat and eggs for us all after what we assumed was a long night and a rough morning." Will answered everybody.

"Beth?" Robin asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

"Yes. Beth," I replied simply, kissing Will softly. "But if anyone else tries calling me that, I'll have their head."

"HA I KNEW it!" Much called.

"Knew what?" Djaq's voice could be heard and shortly after, her and Allan emerged from the trees.

"That Will and Elizabeth are madly in love with each other, but only just admitted it," Robin laughed.

"Not being funny, but that's old news Robin. We all knew that already," Allan said cockily.

"Yeah, they were the only two who didn't see it," Djaq said happily.

"It was PAINFULLY obvious you two," Much piped up once more.

"For once, I agree with Much," Robin chuckled.

"HEY!" Much yelled.

"This…I like," John said firmly, smiling softly.

"Oi, all of you! Glad to know you've been talking bout the two of us. And for some time now it seems." I called, laughing happily.

"That's exactly what we've been doing," Robin simply stated. "Personally, I figured you two would get together at some point long before we rescued you. In fact, I predicted this before you and I went off to the Holy Land. You should have seen the two of you when we were little. Will following Elizabeth around like a loyal puppy and Elizabeth looking longingly at him with an obvious crush whenever his back was turned and he couldn't see."

"Oh yes, I remember that!" Much exclaimed. "They acted the same way when we got Elizabeth here too! Like when she was passed out that first day, Will didn't leave her side, or take his eyes off her; not even for a sec…"

"That's enough of that," Will stated, his face bright red. My face was just as red at that point too though. I hadn't thought anybody noticed the way I used to, and still do, look at Will and I'm sure he felt the same way. "Oh, come on Beth, if they can't grow up, that's their problem. Let's get out of here and maybe when we get back, they'll have matured a bit," he bent down and whispered in my ear.

Will and I left the group, and went to the river, leaving the sounds of loud talking and laughing behind us. After about an hour of talking and joking around at the river bank, Will and I returned to camp, to find everyone talking normally. When we joined them around the fire, the conversation continued normally, but they all had big grins on their faces.


	8. Chapter 7 You Get Over It!

*Just before I start this chapter. For a while now, I will be following the plot line of the show, for the most part. Some of the stuff isn't going to focus on Will and Beth 110% like it has before. Other romances are going to be developed, as will the plot. Keep reading and reviewing because it was the reviews that got me off of my butt and writing this chapter. I took basically one day to write it and I'm hoping to keep it going now that soccer season it over (We're State Sectional Champs YAY!) and Thanksgiving break is right around the corner. Keep up the reviews and I'll keep on writing!

Chapter 7 The Tax Man Cometh

About a fortnight had passed since Will and I had admitted our love to each other. We were happy as could be together, always smiling and laughing. We would give each other the occasional, brief kiss and sometimes we even snuck off to the river bank to have some alone time/ make-out sessions. I continued to treat Will's injuries from our captivity and by now they had almost all healed. The only ones still clearly visible were the few that I thought would scar. It seems I had been right about them.

One day, Much ran back to camp from looking for the night's dinner, announcing that a carriage was on its way to Nottingham on the road through Sherwood as we spoke. Well, of course we went out to meet it. Two men rode in the carriage, one a somewhat scruffy man, and the other looked young enough to be his son (maybe around Will's age). We blocked their path in the road and the two looked extremely frightened. The man made some excuse about being a poor farmer on his way to sell goat's milk. This immediately made Djaq and I laugh.

"You will not make money," she said simply to him.

"Won't make much, just enough to keep me and the orphan lad alive," he responded, nodding at the boy next to him.

"You will not make anything," Djaq corrected. "This is a male goat." I couldn't take it any longer and snickered quietly at the fools who had tried scamming us. Something that would obviously never get past Djaq and me. The rest of the gang didn't look too happy, and we immediately began looking through their wagon for anything that might be worth something.

"What is this?" I asked accusingly, holding up a leather bound book for the others to see.

"That is crown property and I am ordering you to put it back" he demanded quite rudely of me.

"He speaks grand for a farmer!" Allan exclaimed.

"More like a tax man to me" Will corrected angrily handing an arrow to Allan.

The man tried reasoning that we could all just go on our way and forget the entire thing. He sounded quite pompous about it really. Well now, we couldn't have that, now could we? John literally dragged the man out of the wagon by the front of his shirt in rage. I don't know why this guy, or anyone for that matter, would stand up against John…and a very pissed John at that. We returned to camp and tied the two men up to the base of a tree.

"What have we got?" Robin asked, returning from whatever he was doing.

"Tax collectors," John simply, and angrily, replied.

"Let's get the facts straight. I am a tax INSPECTOR, it's two grades higher than a tax collector," that cursed man corrected, rather pompously once again. "I do book work. I don't dirty my hands with money."

"How can you be so proud?" Much mused disgustedly.

Robin had been looking through the man's leather bound book and finally strode over to the captives explaining that the taxes are extortion. The defensive reply he got was something about counting the wealth of the world and not judging it. "No. WE judge it," Robin put matters simply. The tax inspector's only response was to give a short speech about it being the age of the bookkeepers now and not heroes. This man really made me sick. "These markings, they mean something," Robin changed the subject a bit, pointing to the book.

"I will not divulge state secrets," was the saucy response, making Robin chuckle. With this, Robin nodded and John lifted the man from behind.

The entire time the two had been tied up, I stood by Allan, Djaq and Will, looking on. The tax inspector disgusted me and his son just creeped me out. The entire time they were questioned, he just openly stared at me, making me highly uncomfortable. Will must have noticed this because he moved closer to me and held my hand, kissing the top of my head lovingly. The boy, however, looked away from me when the man next to him was lifted by John. He then let it slip that he was this man's son, resulting in the man being dropped and the boy being hoisted up by John and tied, upright, to the tree.

Some time passed as each of us, in turn, attempted to get information out of the tax _inspector_ and his son. For what felt like ages, we received absolutely nothing but cold stares from the two men. Finally, the tax inspector turned to Robin, "If I tell you, how do I know you're not just going to kill us anyway?" he asked.

"You don't," Robin answered quite bluntly.

"That's not much of a deal," the tax collector stated somewhat angrily.

I cut in with an answer for that and immediately his son's eyes returned to me, "Well in the real world, things don't always add up! And what are _you_ staring at" I snapped, getting frustrated at his son's unwavering gaze.

"You beautiful," he answered cheekily in what I'm sure he thought was a cool, suave, and sexy manner. He made me want to vomit and slap him all at once, but I was nowhere near the least of his worries. Will started to charge him, and would have beaten him to within an inch of his life, if not stopped by Allan and Much.

Will was almost free of them when, "The tax money for the whole of the North, is being held in Nottingham castle." the inspector said, stopping Will in his tracks. My opinion? He couldn't think of any other way to save his son from the beating of a lifetime.

"All of it?" Robin asked, crouching down next to him once more.

"The Sheriff has the trust of the Prince. He's been annual collector for the last three years." was the man's only response, but that is all that he needed to say. We all knew what that meant: all of the North's tax money was in Nottingham castle as we wasted time talking.

"That's true," Will interjected with his carpenter knowledge. "My father used to have to make extra strong boxes this time of year."

"In case you have any ideas, Prince John sends a unit of his army to protect the shipment," the tax man said, as if to frighten us away from the treasure. Yeah. As if!

Robin stood up and walked around a bit before giving us all a look we knew too well. "Master," Much began in typical Much fashion, "no…surely!" To my surprise, however, Allan was on Much's side saying the castle would be securely guarded.

"You're scared" Djaq accused, almost mockingly.

"Well yeah!" Allan exclaimed. "Look, I've dangled from a rope there, not funny."

"I want that money. I want that money before it gets to London. Do you think taxes pay for themselves, people sweat for them. Give their lives for them. And when they save up, they can't even afford a decent piece of meat," Will, always the voice of reason, cut in. We could tell these were much more than just words. We all knew what had happened to the Scarlet family.

"My friend here lost his mother," Robin explained to the tax inspector and his son, looking disdainfully at the pair.

"That's not my fault." the tax man stated as if he couldn't give a shit about Will and his mother.

"You're part of this system!" Allan pointed out, angrily.

John then grabbed the man and got in his face before yelling, "Taxes, we DO NOT like!" It was decided then and there that we would go to Nottingham and steal the taxes to return to the poor. After the tax man told us where the money was he snidely pointed out that we could never get in with the maximum security.

"We couldn't," I said pensively. "But you could." Every eye turned quizzically to me when I said this. "What? The son stays here with Djaq and I guarding him while this one," I pointed to the father, "takes you all to the tax money. That is, he will if he knows what's good for his son."

"You are brilliant!" Robin and Djaq chorused while John said, "This, I LIKE!"

"That's my girl," Will whispered into my ear and kissed my cheek lovingly. "Although I have to say, I don't know if I feel comfortable with you here with this creep. He likes you a LITTLE too much for my liking."

The men had all gone with the tax inspector to get the tax money while Djaq and I guarded the man's pig of a son. The entire time the two of us talked about this and that, he stared at me hungrily, and Djaq noticed. "Hey! You! Ugly! You may want to stop looking at Elizabeth like that. If Will finds out you're keeping up this creepy staring thing, he's going to beat you to within an inch of your life. He would have before, if not for the other two." she taunted, but this did not seem to frighten him in the least because he kept the staring up and I did my best to ignore it.

_**Come on and get back quick guys, I can't stand much more of this. He really is a creepy guy…he's looking at me like I'm a piece of meat. Will never looked at me like that. Now that I look back on it, even before we were together, it was always really sweet, loving glances. God, how I love him.**_

Will's POV

I entered Nottingham walking next to the tax inspector's horse, posing as his son since I am the closest in age to the pig who keeps staring at Beth, MY Beth. _**I could wring that punk's neck.**_ We got into Nottingham without too much trouble from the guards. One asked if I was the same boy but dropped the subject immediately, apparently happy in the fact that I was. _**Where do the Sheriff and Guy FIND these guys? I mean, honestly, how thick can a person possibly get?**_ Robin and the others got in with the help of Marian distracting the guard at the gate. They then took out a kitchen man when he went to throw something down the garbage chute and I assisted them in climbing up, and with that, we were in. Sneaking into the castle really has been far too easy of a task for us on this particular day.

In no time at all, we were in the hallway where the vault was located and, after a bit of a fight with the tax man over his son's safety, we entered the vault. It was then that I heard it. The vault door slammed closed just as I spun to face it and grabbed the handle. That slimy, greedy little git had locked us in! Not only that, but with a little looking around, we found the safe boxes were empty of any tax money, of anything at all, actually. We tried banging on the doors and calling him back, but Robin stopped us. "You're wasting your time! We've been tricked!" he called out in anger. With frustration at the truth in Robin's words, John yelled and charged the door, attempting to knock it free of its hinges, but it was no use. We were really and truly trapped.

Normal POV

"I hope the boys are alright," I said to Djaq after what felt like forever. "Nothing had better happen to them."

"They will be fine Elizabeth, we have nothing to worry about. We do things like this all the time, and they always are," Djaq reassure me.

"Not _always_," I replied miserably thinking of Will's scars. They would be there forever because I was being stupid and careless in laughing and making my presence in Locksley well known.

Djaq must have known what I was thinking because she came over to me and gave me a hug. "You have to stop blaming yourself for that, Elizabeth. It was by no means your fault and Will doesn't care in the slightest, he never did and he never will."

"That's what worries me. He _doesn't _care that he got hurt for me. What's going to happen the next time I'm in trouble? Or the next? Or the next?"

"We worry about that when it happens, not now," Djaq said. The entire time the tax man's son had been staring at us questioningly. When we looked over at him, he looked hopeful that we would give an explanation to what we were talking about. "She has somebody who loves her unconditionally and more than anything else in this world, and that is all we are telling _you,_" Djaq spat at him.

Will's POV

We had been arguing and fighting in that vault for some time, each of us pissed at the situation and at the tax inspector. I threw myself down on one of the chests and folded my hands, trying to come up with a solution to get us out of this mess, seeing as fighting amongst ourselves would get us absolutely nowhere. I was deep in thought and tuned the arguing out, until I heard Robin say, "You're right. I don't."

_**Ok so up to me to get us out of this sticky situation. Come on now Will, think, think, think…YES!**_

I had a solution to the predicament at hand, or at least I hoped I did. The locks on the safe boxes were identical to the one on the door. Therefore, if I could make a key out of the safe boxes that fit one of their locks…I should be able to open the door. I just had to hope I finished the key before somebody came to get us. Finally, after using all my tools and more patience than I knew I had with the others (particularly Much) breathing down my neck, the key worked in the safe box's lock. The others stood at the ready behind me, ready for any guards who should be outside. With my heart pounding in my ears, and my mouth dry and anything, I inserted my makeshift key into the slot on the door, and slid it up.

_Click._ With that wonderfully, beautifully soft sound, I knew the key had worked. Robin nodded to me and I opened the vault door and everybody raced out, Allan knocking out the one guard posted in front. As we stepped outside the castle, the Sheriff spotted us and set some guards on us. I slid down a banister to help Robin with the guards as he fought the Sheriff. Suddenly, Robin had captured him and had a blade to the man's throat. All fighting ceased immediately and the rest of the gang rushed to where Robin and I were, weapons still drawn, protectively. Gisborne blocked off our escape at the gate and challenged Robin to a duel which he declined, and rightly so because I don't trust the man as far as I can throw him. Gisborne accused us of stealing from a helpless Abbot (yeah right, like we'd ever do _that_) and it was then that we all realized it. "A tax man that isn't a tax man, pilgrims no one's ever heard of. I think we've both been had," Robin voiced what we were all thinking. With that, he released the Sheriff and we all got escaped to the forest to where Djaq and Beth were with the fake tax man's son.

Normal POV

Djaq and I were sitting listening to the boy try to talk his way out of bondage and Djaq was telling him to save his breath when we heard a bird call. Only, we knew it wasn't really a bird call, so we grabbed our weapons and went up to meet Will and the others out of the son's sight. I ran to Will when we found them and threw my arms around his neck.

"I'm so glad you're all right, all of you!" I said and gave Will a kiss, which he returned eagerly. They then explained to Djaq and I how we had been tricked. Robin went even further to explain that the Sheriff had also been tricked by this so-called tax inspector, his son, and some mysterious fake Abbess. Robin was then telling Djaq to free the kid and we could follow him to the money, when Much and I noticed there was no need. We watched mesmerized as he popped his shoulder out, wriggled free of his ropes, and popped it back into place again once free. I personally thought it was a revolting sight.

We silently followed the kid to his father and some beautiful woman sitting on a carriage waiting for him. They were bragging to the boy about how much money they had stolen when Robin shot three arrows into the side of the cart, causing the woman to shriek. "No retirement just yet," Robin called to them as we all marched down the slope towards their cart.

After a bit of bickering and comments between everyone, the woman spoke up. "Listen, we've not taken from you," she said rather condescending. "We were never after you."

"Nooo. We were just the bait," I retorted angrily.

"Get over it sweetie," the son jeered at me. Will turned around and back handed him for that, making me smile to myself.

"You get over it. You might as well have been tax collectors; you're doing exactly the same thing," Will spat venomously at him.

The woman tried to convince Robin to join her and her two partners. Then, she went as far as to suggest her and him go off on their own to steal from corrupted nobles. To everybody's surprise, she started to kiss Robin! Like, full of lip action. Ah, but our Robin is not won over so easily. "What do you say?" she asked him in regards to her suggestion to join them.

"I say…Little John," he replied looking over at Little John. The man smiled as though Christmas had come early this year. He and Robin pushed the phony tax collector and the woman into the mud in the back of the cart.

"You. Are. Pigs! And you are in slops!" Much exclaimed to the two. "But I think you will find they are not pigs in slops." He finished, turning to Robin and laughing. We were all smiling and laughing when John found the gold hidden in the mud of the cart.

"Ah," Robin smiled. "You wouldn't have wanted to retire on this…dirty money." We all laughed and called out joyously.

I turned to Will and gave him a tremendous hug laying my head on his chest. Leaning up I gave him a deep kiss and whispered, "I'm glad you're back safe. I was worried about you, especially with this creep staring at me all afternoon."

"That reminds me," Will said putting his arms around my waist and looking over my head to the man's son. "If you ever come near my girl again, I swear on my life you'll lose more than just your stolen money. Now be off, the lot of you!" With that the three scampered off in shame and embarrassment to do Lord knows what, Lord knows where. The rest of us reveled in the winnings of the day. That night we were still celebrating the victory. Much pulled out some reed pipes, and Robin a guitar like instrument and began to play a happy, light tune. Will and I danced together around the fire, as did Allan and Djaq while John tapped his staff to the ground in time to the rhythm. Overall, it was an extremely jolly and joyous night back at camp.

The next day, Robin and Much went around to the different villages paying those who supply Nottingham with meat with the tax money, and telling them that instead of brining their meat to Nottingham, they should bring it to other villages so that everybody was able to get decent meat. The rest of us relaxed at camp and enjoyed ourselves. Will and I went down to the river's edge and just basked in the company of the other. Then, when I got excruciatingly hot out, we went for a swim. When we arrived back at camp dripping wet with me over Will's shoulder, everybody stopped talking and just gave us knowing looks. "What? Nothing happened! I swear!" Will exclaimed, his face turning bright red and put me down. I couldn't help it and let a giggle slip, which broke the silence. Everybody started roaring with laughter, even Will. Life was most definitely good at that moment.


	9. Author's note 2

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Okay so I have a few things to put out there before I post the next chapter.

FIRST!

I have another story up right now called To Love a Prince. If you like this story and watch BBC's Merlin, you may enjoy that one as well. I haven't written a chapter for that in ages, but I feel like I should with season 3 coming to a close this Saturday. I really like the story myself and have some good ideas for future chapters. The only thing is that the girl from that is also named Elizabeth. I wrote the Merlin story ages ago when I saw season 1 and totally forgot that's what I named the main character from it.

SECOND! *ROBIN HOON SPOILER*

Now for anybody who has seen BBC's Robin Hood season 1 and even more so season 2, you will know that this is the point in the story where romantic feelings begin to develop between the characters. Well…that's all going to shit in my story! This is where I completely scratch certain details and plotlines from the show. =)

THIRD!

Sorry if I take longer to update my stories. I'm a high school junior and there's a lot going on. I have two term papers due this month (one this Friday for Brit Lit comparing The Once and Future King to BBC's Merlin! Best topic I've ever come up with 3 ). On top of this, I'm stressed about SATs and looking at colleges. But I promise I'm going to try updating my stories more, especially during Christmas break!

BACK TO THE STORY 3


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